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We are fighting tax havens and aggressive tax planning

15/06/2016

Tax evasion is not a new issue, but the Panama Papers shed a light on the huge scale of fraud and money transferred to tax havens. Tax evasion means that each year 1 trillion (1.000.000.000.000) euros are lost to society. Money that should be used for the benefit of all - health, education, community services, etc. - is instead remaining to the pockets of those who have the most.It is time to take action and make sure that a fair system is put into place and that those who have more contribute to the society as everyone contributes his/hers fair share to society.

We have to strangle the money flows to tax havens through transparency and regulation. That requires the kind of international effort the PES is leading.

On 23 April, the finance ministers of our PES family committed to strengthening cooperation among EU member states to fight aggressive tax planning.

We also supported the legislative proposal of the European Commission, tabled by Commissioner Pierre Moscovici of the French Socialist Party, which would require companies operating internationally to disclose relevant details for the calculation of the taxes due in each country.

This would apply to EU countries and also – although with less detail - for operations in other tax jurisdictions.

For years we have actively campaigned for tax justice and against tax evasion. A lot more needs to be done, so that tax avoiders can’t benefit from loopholes and mismatches in tax systems.

Unifying the tax bases of all European countries by the end of this year will be the next step and it won’t be an easy one. We’ll be supporting that and we’d like to have you on board!